I htink that there is an inevitability to such responses, Vena. Any time you and I or anyone else decides to operate outside norms, make different choices, there is a price to be paid. However when your gut, as did mine, made it clear to you that kids weren't the right path, was there really any other choice? I know that when we reach life's mid point such questions rise, but I am validated daily by how the Universe has guided me- and people like you and me- to evolve differently. Your gifts, my gifts, are richer for having made the choices we did. Again, I can't speak for you, but as a fellow late in lifer without kids, living alone, a good bit of what you right rings truthfully for me. That ability to touch a responsive chord is a powerful gift.